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Om Namah Shivaya
The Bhagavad Gita
Chapter 12
A Leaf From the Peepul
Tree
Swami Venkatesananda
1984
Contents
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
1. One
We might take a quick glimpse into the 12th chapter of the Bhagavad Gita. This
was one of Gurudev Swami Sivananda's favourite chapters, because it deals with
bhakti yoga. Gurudev said himself, very often, that bhakti yoga is the easiest,
surest, and quickest way to God-realisation. However, when you go into it, it
looks as though what is quick is not very easy, and what is easy is not very quick.
Once you go there, he says that it is very simple. He seems to suggest that even
six months is too long. "Just close your eyes, and when you open them, see God in
all, see God in every face." Yet, when I open my eyes, it is still Mr. So-and-So
sitting there.
Why do I see him as Mr. So-and-So, and not as God? If you are able to see God
in every face instantly, you are freed instantly, and instantly you are in perpetual
samadhi. It doesn't take six months, does it? So, there is always some little trick,
some small but vital factor which is overlooked. So, we shall go back to this 12th
chapter, and see how easy or how difficult it is. Whether it is a short cut which
goes the long way round. If love is natural, devotion is also natural to us, and
surrender should not be very difficult either.
Why is it that we have not attained illumination yet? The first verse - the second
according to some texts - gives a clue immediately.
mayy avesya mano ye mam nityayukta upasate sraddhaya parayo 'petas te me yuktatama matah
(XII:2)
"They who have entered their minds into Me, into God, they who have entered their ego,
their heart, their whole being into God, these are the best in yoga."
We suddenly realise that we have put the cart before the horse. We have turned
the whole thing upside down. We try to push God into our hearts, we try to
understand God. We try to squeeze the Infinite into a poor little polluted mind.
We have tried to grasp the infinite, omnipresent Being, with a little thing called
my heart. It is not even heart. It is my heart, so narrow, so little, so silly.
If you enter the Infinite into your heart, sincerely and honestly, and in earnest,
then it is inevitable that that heart must burst. Great saints, especially among the
bhaktas or devotees of the Lord, have gone crazy according to us, because they
poured this God into their hearts, and it burst its bounds. We call them mad
One has to take this blind leap into the unknown at some point. If it is not
possible, then it is not possible. We have no cause for grumbling though. Most of
us want to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die. The snag is that, unless you die
here, you won't go to heaven. We are clinging to this little personality,
embellishing it, adorning it, trying to make it shine and look nicer in so many
ways, and yet we want God-realisation. We want to fill ourselves with this infinite
God. That is not possible.
So, instead, Krishna says: "mayy avesya" - don't try to squeeze Me into your
heart; I'm too big, too large. Better offer yourself into Me; that is simpler. Not
only is it simpler, but it is the way.
mayy avesya mano ye mam nityayukta upasate (XII:2)
Once your mind, your heart, the totality of it, is thus offered to Him, and you
enter into Him - "nityayukta upasate" - then, from there on, you are forever
wedded to God. When you enter this hall for instance, wherever you look, you are
seeing the hall. You are surrounded by this hall, you are moving in this hall,
whether you are going forwards, backwards, or sidewards. If, similarly, you enter
your whole being into God, then, wherever you move, it is God, which ever way
you turn, it is God. That is the beauty. At that point, the bhakti is non-different
from jnana or self-realisation.
Ramana Maharishi often used to quote a verse which he was very fond of: "Why
do you see the world as world? Because the eyes belong to the world, and you see
whatever it is, with the eyes. That which belongs to the world, only sees the world,
and nothing else." There is a beautiful song in hindi, addressed to Krishna. The
devotee says: "Come, live in my eyes Krishna, live in my eyes." Why? So that I
may see Krishna in all. Only then is it possible to see God in all. Can God be
enthroned in our eyes? Can our whole being be offered into God? Then it is
possible to see God in all; because, whichever way you turn, you are seeing only
God.
nityayukta upasate sraddhaya parayo 'petas (XII:2)
"This demands supreme faith".
What is faith? Even ordinary faith is not blind faith. Blind faith is blindness. If
you are blind, how do you know that you will even have faith? If you are in
darkness, you will see nothing. You don't 'see' darkness, you are 'in' darkness. If
the faith is blind, there is blindness, there is no faith. If there is blindness, there is
belief. Someone tells me that there is something called 'eskimo' and 'sledge'. I
have not seen these things; but the person who told me happened to be nice-
And now Krishna says here: "sraddhaya panayo" - "one who has supreme faith".
Offering oneself, one's whole being to God, placing one's whole being in God -
that is what 'sannyasa' means. 'Sannyasa' means to put something very correctly
into something. The sannyasa or the swami is one who has offered his whole
being into this Infinite; and it is there, securely placed. When that happens, this
direct experience is repeated very often. It might not be continuous yet, not quite
unbroken, but it is repeated often. So, this faith is also strengthened again and
again. The ego is still there, but it is very thin and greatly weakened; for,
whichever way it turns, it experiences the Divine Presence. Therefore this faith is
supreme.
sraddhaya panayo 'petas te me yuktatama match (XII:2)
"They are very closely associated with Him, very closely united with Him. Such a devotee
and I are in very close and fast embrace.
Gurudev was an embodiment of this. If you went to Him with some complaint
about somebody or something, immediately he would close one eye - this is
obvious, this is not obvious. I am seeing what is obvious, and I am also trying to
figure out what is not obvious. It's fantastic. There are two eye-witnesses to this.
He would never say that you were wrong. You had gone to Him with a complaint
against somebody, this is the obvious thing; and the closed eye sees something
else, which is not obvious. When He closed one eye, and looked at you with the
other one, it was really terrifying. It had a piercing quality. He never denied you
the privilege of saying what you wanted to say. But there it ended. Sometimes,
His reactions were the ones you did not expect, because whereas you were
committed to the obvious, He was looking through it, enquiring into it, to see the
unobvious truth. There He often revealed our own hidden motivations.
That was in the case of human relationship; and the same thing applies to our
search for God. It is not obvious, because the mind has cloaked this truth with a
veil of ignorance. The veil of ignorance is not something which you can peel off,
unless you are God Almighty. One has to enquire into it, one has to be constantly
vigilant, constantly enquiring, and constantly taking refuge in the Truth - I am
looking for the Reality, the Truth, and not the appearance. This fire of enquiry
must be burning in us constantly. Then it is possible for us to see through the
obvious, at least most of the time.
sarvatragam acintyam ca (XII:3)
"I am the Truth, I am also the False", is a shattering statement from the
Bhagavad Gita. The same truth was also revealed in the Upanishads by the Rishis.
"Because the Lord entered into all, into everything, every atom of existence, that
which the mind thinks of as the false, is also pervaded by the same truth". To give
a very imperfect example - you speak the truth, but, on a certain occasion, you tell
The only thing that can be truly said about this God is that He is 'acintyam',
unthinkable. So, try not to use the little brain too much. Questions like "If God is
omnipresent, why don't I see this or that?", or "If God is omnipresent, can you
say that this and that are both the same?" arise in the polluted mind. That
polluted mind is also in God, in this cosmic Being, just as a little cloud is floating
in the sky. That cloud is also in space, it is not outside of it.
kutastham acalam dhruvam (XII:3)
How do I realise this? What is the method, and when does this realisation
become difficult? When one tries to apprehend the reality by means of the senses.
The secret of control of the mind and senses is here. If God is omnipresent, all
experiences are of God. But, am I trying to experience an object which is also God
through my senses? There I am bound to fail. Any sense experience becomes an
immediate limitation of the illimitable. Every sense experience limits and distorts
the Infinite, and therefore leads to sorrow, trouble, conflict, and turning away
from the supreme reality. It can only give an experience of the appearance; but,
the mind flowing through the senses regards that experience as the reality, and
there comes trouble. But, if, with the eyes, I am seeing a form, a figure, and if the
inner intelligence is trying to see that this form is seen, but the indwelling
substratum is the divine, there is no harm. If the intelligence immediately
suggests that though this is a form it is the appearance, and the reality is the
All these senses must be well-governed, so that they do not run away with this
intelligence, so that they do not pervert or delude this intelligence. Put a bar of
chocolate into your mouth. Is it possible at the same time to realise that this is a
bar of chocolate, but the sweetness is not in it, not even in my tongue, that it is
somewhere else? If that is possible, then the senses have been very well trained
and controlled - 'samniyamye 'ndriyagramam'. It is not a question of throwing
the chocolate away, running away from it, but bringing about a total inner
revolution, a complete change in one's inner attitude. Then you have mastery
over the senses.
I'll give you the literal translation: 'sarvatra' - everywhere; 'sama' - same;
'buddhayah' - intelligence, intellect or understanding. 'This person has the same
understanding, the same outlook'. This relates to the buddhi or the awakened
inner intelligence. That awakened inner intelligence has the attitude of sameness
everywhere, in all conditions. And so, Gurudev was able to sing, "Chidanand,
Chidanand, Chidananda hum" - "In all conditions, I am Knowledge, Bliss
Absolute". He could express joy as no-one else could express it. When He wanted
to appreciate, it was all superlatives, and you could see from His face that He was
happy. Here, again, there was no suppression. On one or two occasions, I have
also seen a bit of a shock on His face. Once, when the news that a mother had lost
There are these experiences which are brought into the intelligence by the mind,
by the sense experiences. But, as soon as they reach this intelligence, they reach
this sameness, so that, immediately, that equanimity is restored.
te prapnuvanti mam eva sarvabhutahite ratah (XII:4)
"And they are devoted to the welfare of all beings". This is an almost impossible
statement to understand with the mind and the ego and our limited, narrow
heart. Our narrow heart has been trained not to love all. Even if you have
struggled hard to love all, you are still going to say, "I will love all. I'll love all
good people, everything divine. But the devil? No! I hate him." How can there be
the least non-love in the heart that is love, in a heart that has been offered to God,
who is Love? Only that person whose heart has been transmuted into Love, who
has entered himself into this Love that is God, can know what is meant by
'sarvabhutahite ratah' - one who is devoted to the welfare of all beings, not just
my friends, members of my cult, my temple, my organisation. This again was
Gurudev's speciality. When you join an organisation, you merely join it. Which
means that you can also be disjoined. You are here, walking into it; you can get
out of it. Even when you 'join' an organisation, you very soon become fanatic. You
are devoted to promoting it, you want it to outshine all the others. That was
something conspicuous by its absence in Gurudev, totally. He was a stranger to it.
Even though He created the Sivananda Ashram, even though He founded the
Divine Life Society, He did not have this fanaticism. He could go to another
ashram and tell them what improvements to make, how to make it even better
than His own organisation. It was fantastic to watch. For that half an hour or one
hour, He was a member of the other place, not the Divine Life Society or
Sivananda Ashram. I don't know if I have ever seen someone who could say that,
even if the organisation that I have founded flounders, let yours flourish. That is
as important to me as this, perhaps more - sarvabhutahite tatah.
That is possible only if one's heart and soul are offered into the divine,
surrendered to the divine. In that surrender, it becomes one. And that is when
I wonder if you have ever asked yourself, or even wondered why there is such a
diversity in creation. If I asked you why there is such a diversity of faces and hair
colour, you might say that it is to distinguish one from the other, in order that we
may relate to the proper people. But, why is there such a diversity in shrubs, in
the formation and shapes of leaves, among flowers? Couldn't all of them have
been reduced to about ten major varieties? It is merely to reveal that the infinite
is infinite in infinite ways. That divinity, that glory, that infiniteness, that
omnipotence, is manifest in this manifestation. Not God Himself, not the infinite
itself, but the infinite potencies of the infinite - which expresses itself in infinite
ways - is manifest in all this. So, the wise devotee's heart seeks that unmanifest
infinity in and through all these manifestations. Here is a wedding of the manifest
and the unmanifest.
There are people in this world who discuss love ad infinitum over a cup of tea or
coffee, but in their own lives, love is the one thing that is conspicuous by its
absence.
There are people who discuss truth, peace, harmony, unity, divinity, who
discuss all these wonderful things most intelligently in an abstract way, but never
allow these things to touch their lives in their relationship with others. In their
lives, you find unhappiness, only because there seems to be a tremendous
cleavage between the flights of their fancy and the realities of their lives.
avyakta hi gatir duhkham dehavadbhir avapyate (XII:5)
You are embodied. You are basically limited to this body. Whatever your
thoughts might be, whatever your flights of fancy might be, when you refer to 'I',
you are pointing to your own body, which means that you are more or less
convinced that the body is you. However much you may repeat as a formula, "I
am not this body, I am the immortal self", when it comes to real life itself, every
cell of this body cries out, "I am the body". 'I am the body' is a realisation; 'I am
not this body' is a formula, a distant goal which you are running towards. Is that
right? When the tables are turned, so that 'I am not the body' becomes a
realisation, and 'I am the body' becomes a sort of formula which is used for the
purpose of getting on in this world, then you are different. This was what
mattered in the lives of such great ones as Gurudev or Ramana Maharishi or
some other great saints. In their case, 'I am not the body' was the realisation; 'I
am the body' was a sort of reality with which they dealt with us, communicated
with us, lived amongst us as human beings. So, as long as you are limited to this
body - dehavadbhir - as long as you feel that either you are the body or you dwell
in the body, or you have something to do with the body, be careful. Don't live in
an abstract world. That may be one of the interpretations of this verse.
Having suggested that such a yogi reaches me, such a yogi lives in me, Krishna
warns that this is not like joining a university and getting a diploma or degree.
There, you attend the course for two years, three years, or five years, and then
take an exam, and if you do well, you get a diploma or a degree. Krishna says it is
not like that, but, "If you do all this, then I grant you salvation."
Even if you didn't understand the Sanskrit, I am sure you understood one word
- samnyasya. Samnyasa means someone who has renounced the world. Not
renounced the world in the sense that you kick it away or abandon it - the swami
is also in this world, treading the same earth as you do. The sannyasi, or the man
who has this understanding of the omnipresence of God, realises that all actions
By not separating himself from this omnipresent Being, the sannyasi realises
that there is nothing else in this universe. That is what your famous word
'omnipresent' means - all actions take place in Him, in this infinite Being,
because there is nothing else. I don't exist outside it, nor do you exist outside it.
So, when I say "I serve you", "I love you", these are expressions which are
essentially meaningless, the 'I' and the 'you' being non-different from the whole,
from the totality, from the infinite. Any action that takes place, is one that takes
place in the infinite, is a movement of energy in the infinite. That is called
sannyasa.
There is no egotistic feeling in the sannyasi that "I am doing this." When that
egotistic feeling arises, it is followed by a motivation. It's a funny thing - the
motivation follows the ego, and then pushes it. This is true of all these wonderful
followers of the gurus and the swamis. The follower starts following and then,
very soon, he starts pushing the guru. Is that right? If the motivation keeps
following the ego humbly, probably there is no harm. The ego arises somehow in
God Himself, it seeks God, and the motivation also follows. That may be right,
but it does not happen in reality. Once the egotistic notion has arisen, "I am doing
this to you", immediately there is the following statement, "because I have got
some motive, some desire to fulfil, some goal to reach." That ambition which
seems to arise after this egotistic feeling, seems to push the ego itself in various
by-lanes, and we are completely lost. Instead, the yogi realises that, if there is an
action, it takes place in Him; if there is an ego, even that is in Him. Now you look
at the same statement 'I serve you', and it has a different meaning - 'I' and 'you'
being two cells, two limbs in the same body of the cosmic being - and whatever
action takes place, takes place in Him. That is called sannyasa.
ye tu sarvani karmani mayi samnyasa matparah ananyenai 'va yogena mam dhyayanta upesate
(XII:6)
Here we have 'ananya' yoga. 'Ananya' means not another. There is not another,
and there is intense yoga; that is, intense unity. There is not union between two
different beings, but union between two cells of the same body, two aspects of the
same infinite being.
mam dhyayanta upasate (XII:6)
'Upasate' may mean worship. But here 'upasate' means, he sits very close to
truth, he sits very close to the infinite. You 'are' in the infinite, but psychologically
you have separated yourself from the infinite, and now, when you do all this, you
draw closer to the infinite.
tesam aham samuddharta mrtyusamsarasagarat bhavami nacirat partha mayy
avesitacetasam (XII:7)
Don't think that if you take all these steps, you will somehow attain God-
realisation. 'I am going to realise God' is a marvellous, wonderful expression.
Gurudev sang a very beautiful song:
"When shall I be free? When 'I' ceases to be".
So, whenever you are tempted to use the expression 'I want to attain self-
realisation', please also remember that the self-realisation is had only when the 'I'
is gone. So, probably the 'I' never attains this. Then, who attains self-realisation?
The Hebrew texts remind us that you can't see the face of God because, when you
see the face of God, you disappear, only God remains.
Krishna - which means God here - says, "I liberate, I elevate." You cannot
elevate yourself. As Jesus says in the Bible, "Knock, and it shall be opened."
When you do all this, don't force the door, you will get splinters in your hands.
Knock, wait - that much you must do, because the knocking will not be done by
God. Love God with all your heart, with all your strength. If the door doesn't
open, knock a little more. If the knuckles ache, use your head. Go on breaking
each one, one after the other, the knuckles, the head, something else, till the
whole 'I' is broken down, completely dissolved. Then the door is open, your heart
is opened, and you are on the other side.
I suppose Krishna had a twinkle in His eyes when He said this. "When you have
entered your mind, your heart, your whole being into Me, you will naturally dwell
in Me". That is obvious, it does not need Krishna to say, "Provided you don't keep
anything back for yourself." Gurudev was very fond of saying this. After you have
surrendered yourself to God, don't keep some private desires for your own
gratification. "God, I surrender myself to you, I am prepared to die, I am
prepared to suffer, but please, look after my children." When you surrender, let
the surrender be total. When you enter into Him, realise that you are entering
into the infinite, and the infinite includes all. There is the realisation that all are
in Him, not only me, but my wife and children, my brothers, disciples, gurus,
properties, the whole lot, and He who is going to look after me, can look after
everybody else. I am the most difficult person to look after. Yes? 'I' is the most
difficult person to look after. If this God can satisfy me, this one person, he is
probably capable of satisfying everyone in this world. Don't we feel this? We have
so many desires for gratification, we make so many demands upon Him, that
even God has disappeared.
There is one south indian saint who has put this very beautifully. He says that if
God had condescended to turn all the oceans into wine, and granted one man the
freedom to drink and made him the supreme monarch of the three worlds,
heaven, hell, and earth, even then, one man's desires cannot be really satisfied.
Because, once you are the monarch of all these three worlds, and you have them
all under your command, you are going to look over to the other galaxy for
something else. So, when you surrender yourself to God, everything is
surrendered, the totality of your existence is realised to be in Him. Don't keep
anything for your own private gratification.
I don't know if I am being rude or blasphemous, but there is one mistake that
God committed. According to, I think the 6th chapter of Genesis, it is said that
God was so angry looking at the wicked condition of the world, He said that He
was going to wipe out the whole thing by sending a flood. That would have been
very nice, a complete spring-cleaning. But unfortunately, He changed His mind at
the last moment, and kept back two of each. Two of each is enough for mischief.
He could easily have wiped out the whole thing and created something new, then
that would have been marvellous. But He built the whole world all over again, as
it was before the flood. I don't know if this story is literally true, but to me it
means only this - when you surrender yourself to God, keep nothing behind.
When you want to die to this life, keep nothing behind, everything is dead. Then
If you find that this is difficult for you, then says Krishna here, practise abhyasa
yoga. By means of abhyasa yoga, strive repeatedly to reach this point, to reach
this state, to reach Him. Why will this be difficult at all when we have the
understanding that God is omnipresent, that God is all, that God is infinite, that
you and I are but cells in the cosmic being? Why will it be difficult for the mind
and the heart to be entered into the infinite, to be saturated with this knowledge,
with this understanding? Because of what we call 'samskaras'.
These scars are extremely difficult to get rid of. The habits are so hard to break
that, however much you tell yourself, "I am not an Indian, I am not this, I am not
a man", these things don't work. So, the scars keep reviving the old vicious
tendencies, and make it impossible for you to realise the infinite, to realise your
oneness with all, and to surrender completely to God. If you are able to surrender
completely to God, at this moment you are instantly liberated, free. You have
instant realisation of the Absolute. But, the scars are bothering you again. So He
says, if that happens and you find that in spite of your surrender, in spite of
offering yourself to God, you are still your old, petty little self, alright,
abhyaaayogena tato mam iccha 'ptum dhanamjaya (XII:9)
then struggle. Come back to this again and again and again - "I must realise
God". Make repeated attempts.
Theoretically, when you once surrender yourself to God, you don't have to
surrender again. If you have to surrender again, that means the first time you did
not really surrender. One does not drown twice in the same water. But, it is
possible for us to realise that that surrender has not taken place; and so, keep on
Gurudev's greatest favourite was this vibhuti yoga. In the 10th chapter of the
Bhagavad Gita, a whole list of special manifestations of God is given - the sun, the
moon, the stars, light, lamp; and Gurudev Himself has added a few more. It is
merely to suggest that once you learn to feel the presence of God in these special
manifestations, it is possible for you to feel the manifestations of God
everywhere, by stages, gradually. The scars will come up; but, in this manner, you
go on healing them. The word 'heal' means to make whole. It is as if the scars
have temporarily damaged the wholeness, and created a personality, which has
set itself up as an independent entity, independent of the infinite. Now, as these
scars get healed one by one, the infinity of the infinite is restored.
abhyase 'py asamartho 'si matkarmaparamo bhava madartham api karmani kurvan siddhim
avapsyasi (XII:10)
"Even if to repeatedly remind yourself of the infinite seems to be difficult, you are
not exempt."
"Treat whatever you are doing as service of God," says Krishna. That is, there is
a level of consciousness all the time that you are doing your business, but you are
doing it for the sake of God. Even by doing so, you can attain perfection. You may
be a jnani and so withdraw yourself from the world and offer yourself to God; or
you may be sadhakas or spiritual seekers like us, who are repeatedly attempting
to cultivate this surrender; or you may be extremely busy in this world. Even
there, you are in Him, in the infinite, you are not outside the pale of God. Nothing
can remain outside the infinite. So, realise that whatever you do, you do because
this is the will of God.
sreyo hi jnanam abhyasaj - jnanad dhuyam visisyate dhyanat karmaphalatyagas tyagac
chantir anantarani (XII:12)
A correct understanding of what we are doing is better than the doing itself.
Superior to that is contemplation where there is a clear understanding of the
truth. Even better than that is the renunciation of all selfish desires.
'Karmaphalatya' means that you are doing what you have to do, but without
desire for a reward, for a result. 'Tyagac chantir ananataram' - immediately after
you abandon selfish desires, you have peace of mind. When there is peace of
mind, contemplation, meditation becomes effortless. When contemplation
becomes effortless, then there is knowledge, which leads to self-knowledge. So,
abandonment of selfish desires, while still being busy in this world, says Krishna,
is superior to all other forms of spiritual practice.
On the other hand, these four verses might also be taken independently to
represent four completely different paths suited to four completely different types
of people, people of different temperaments. One type of person is one who is
instantly able to surrender like a Buddha, or a Sivananda, or a Jesus Christ. He
sees the truth immediately it is revealed, and right then and there, the surrender
takes place. You may call him a jnani or a sage, or a great devotee totally in love
with God, or you may call him what you like; that is the person - mayy
avesyamano - whose mind and heart enter into God without any motivation
whatsoever, without a thought interfering in that surrender.
Then comes the abhyasa yogi - one like us, who is constantly striving. This could
be the raja yogi, who meditates every morning, who does all the yama, niyama,
isana, pranayama, and all that every day, and is striving and striving and striving
to reach the goal, to reach this state of surrender. That is another independent
path, the path of raja yoga.
Then there is the one who is unable to do any of these, but who is active, and
It is possible that one cannot associate one's actions with God. "God has nothing
to do with all this. I have to work for my wife and children. Why does God come
into this?" But very soon you realise that you work because you have to work. You
realise, if you are a hard worker, even in business, in industry, or working for any
institution you like - mental, spiritual, physical, commercial - that all these are
similar institutions. Very soon you realise, "I set a goal up for myself, and I am
not able to realize it, I am frustrated. I want to get that, but I am unable to. There
are too many factors-and cross-currents involved." Some day, a feeling arises in
us, "I enjoy the work, but I am not able to achieve what I want to achieve." Watch
carefully here - I enjoy the work, but the consequence seems to be frustration, the
result seems to be frustration. I think it's simple common intelligence to hang on
to this work, and drop that result. Is that right? I enjoy the work, I don't want to
drop it, but it is the consequence, the result that is frustrating; so, I drop it there,
and I go on doing what I have to do. I enjoy myself. This itself is the highest yoga.
That's what Krishna says, not us:
tyagac chantir anantaram (XII:12)
If you are able to drop this selfish motive or desire intelligently in this manner,
that very instant, your heart is at peace. That means enlightened, illumined, God-
realised, and all the rest of it. When selfish desire has gone, when selfish
motivation has gone, the little self has gone. You don't have to sell fish any more.
You have become the ocean of satchidananda. So, that very moment, you are able
to abandon this foolish and stupid chasing after a result to the action. That very
moment, you are liberated, freed, emancipated. So, that itself seems to be a
complete path indicated by Krishna.
These are different classes of devotees. Different classes, only because we are
studying all four; but one who is in one of these categories is complete, totally
complete. He doesn't have to look at others, and compare himself at all. The
characteristics of these devotees are given in the last eight verses of this twelfth
chapter of the Bhagavad Gita. These are characteristics which are found in those
seekers who have reached the summit, who have quaffed Divine Grace. A
temptation that naturally arises in our hearts when we study these qualifications,
and when we see them illustrated in great saints like Gurudev, is that if only I can
also behave like that, will my behaviour not make me a saint? May not. Your
behaviour might make you heavier. It is not just a behaviour; you will be heavier,
and you will go down and down and down. You might become like some of these
imitation diamonds; they sparkle, but they are worth nothing. So, imitation is
dangerous. It is not the outward action that distinguishes a saint from a sinner.
Krishna himself has pointed out very beautifully that the yogi or the saint must
behave externally in a way similar to the worldly man, but inwardly there is a
tremendous difference. The outlook is different, the inner vision is different - a
This is an expression which occurs again and again in the Yoga Vasistha.
Vasistha tells Rama, "Acquire this vision, live in this vision, and then from there
the action will spring." I'll give you a very simple, ludicrous example. I am
walking along and happen to cross the street, when someone comes very fast in
his car. I look at the car and run. 'I' don't run. 'I' don't stand there and say, "Oh
my God, he's coming at sixty miles an hour and I'll be crushed. I must run." All
this takes too long. The looking itself runs. That's it. Another example. When I am
in the presence of some children, I look at them and want to run. Even that is
inadequate. 'I' don't run, the very sight of that child runs. It is not 'I' who am
running away from the car, because I am afraid that I'll be knocked down. It is
not 'I' who am running towards this child, because I love the child; but it is the
inner vision that acts instantly, spontaneously, without question, without
motivation. So, when these descriptions are heard, one must be aware that these
descriptions or the qualities or the attributes spring from a vision. "Acquire that
vision, these qualities will be found in you." That's all Krishna says.
These qualities are found in those who have acquired this God-vision. If you
also acquire this God-vision, you will also possess these qualities. But don't use
them as make-up, cosmetics. No-one is interested in your virtues, except for
some social virtues. You don't go about hitting or molesting people; that's alright,
and we understand all that. But, in how virtuous you are, and how you don't
smell meat, or even drink a glass of wine, or things like that, no-one is interested.
So, there is no use applying these as cosmetics.
This cosmetic discipline often fattens one's egoism, and leads to all sorts of
complications and troubles. With this cosmetic discipline, you apply it nicely, and
you look very decent, very charming, till there is a rainfall or perspiration, and
then the whole thing is gone. "I eat only once a day", "I am a perfect
brahmachari", "I am this, I am that", all these are out of the ordinary, and if you
cannot do this which the swami does, he must be something extraordinary. He
might be something else. This is how some of these people are worshipped.
If I have one weakness, you may have another weakness. If you drink a glass of
beer, I may be drinking ten cups of tea. The net result is the same, there is a
weakness. I'll tell you a story which Swamiji was very fond of. A sannyasi, a
swami, in Rishikesh had put up a noticeboard outside his hut: "I have conquered
anger". Four young men entered into a conspiracy to try him. First one young
man went in: "Ah, Swamiji maharaj, I believe you have conquered anger." "Yes,
The first boy goes off, the second one comes in: "Maharaj, I heard from my
friend that you never get angry?" "Of course I don't get angry at all." "You do not
get angry, Maharaj? But supposing I insult you." "Oh no, soham, soham, soham,
soham; you and I are one atma; you are my own self; how do I get angry?" "How
did you achieve it?" "By meditating upon the one immortal self which pervades
all beings. It is said in the Gita." "Thank you Maharaj. One more banana, and a
flower, I picked it in your garden, I hope you don't mind."
And so the third fellow comes, and the conversation is kept up. Then the fourth
comes in: "Swamiji, I believe you told all these three people that you don't get
angry at all. But what happens when somebody knocks your head down?" "I don't
get angry." "But how come? You are also a man like me, how come you are not
angry?" "I don't get angry, I have told you fifty times!" "But how can you not get
angry? If I go on arguing with you?" "Get out of here!"
So, if you practise these cosmetic disciplines, they ring false, and in the heat of
your own activity to maintain them, the cosmetic disintegrates. If you wear heavy
make-up, you can't afford to be active.
The cosmetic discipline disintegrates at the least sign of a challenge, but if the
inner vision is clear, then the discipline is found. Not by yourself, you are not
even aware of it. This is one thing which we all discovered in Gurudev. He was
not aware that He was loving; He was not aware that He was active; He was not
aware that He was unselfish. So, one very important thing to remember is that I
cannot acquire this discipline, these qualities. These are found when the inner
vision arises. I cannot cultivate them because the 'I', the ego that cultivates, is fed
by all these qualities, and you become more and more and more egotistic. When
you become proud of your own virtue, there is a fall immanent. If you have
conquered all the other vices, this virtue has become large. That itself is the
biggest vice. It's a compensatory vice; so, it is merely transferred to the ego. It has
become pride, and the pride goes before a fall.
It is not possible for us to acquire these qualities, and pretend that we have
become devotees or yogis. When we strive to become yogis, or when we strive to
acquire this inner vision by becoming conscious of the nature of the world, the
nature of action, the nature of life here, then none of us is really happy, however
much we may pretend to be happy. None of us is really at peace as long as the
mind is restless, and we have not found the key to peace of mind. None of us has
Such is the beauty of the next eight verses. They are called 'amrtastakam',
because they are very sweet and very beautiful. Moreover, it is in these eight
verses that Krishna uses an extraordinarily beautiful expression which occurs
again and again:
yo madbhaktah sa me priyah (XII:14)
This person who loves me, I love him. So, there is a beautiful reciprocity, a
beautiful unity. There is an expression of beauty or love - God loves me and I love
Him - and therefore these eight verses are highly extolled.
advesta sarvabhutanam maitrah karuan eva ca nirmano nirakamkarah samaduhkhasukhah ksami
(XII:13)
samtustah satatam yogi yatatma drdhaniscayah mayy arpitamanobuddhir yo madbhaktah sa me
priyah (XII:14)
So, the man of God is completely free from this thing called unhappiness. You
Much later, in the mid-fifties, somebody had robbed the ashram of everything.
The bank accounts showed zero net balance, the cash box was empty, there was
nothing in the post office, nothing anywhere. Then also He was happy. "Alright,
that's not a problem. We are all swamis, sannyasis; so, let us go to some of the
alms houses, take bhiksha, come back, and do a little bit of work and go back for
our food, till the ashram position improves." Also happy. He didn't go into some
sort of hibernation. If it had happened to some of you, you would have had a
nervous breakdown. You are already bankrupt, and now you have got to pay some
more doctor's bills! There no doubt He was happy, and here also He was happy.
So, there is a result of evenness.
Samtustah satatam yogi yatatma drdhaniscayah (XII:14)
"Ever content, steady in meditation, self-controlled, possessed of firm conviction".
I have often given this example from Gurudev's life. This happened just once. In
Delhi, during the 'All India Tour', Gurudev's health was in very poor shape, and
the organisers had decided that when Gurudev was not delivering a lecture or
having a satsang, He would go away somewhere else alone, to the house of a very
good devotee for a period of rest. Incidentally, if Gurudev had accepted an
This resolve does not arise in the mind or the intellect, but it happens
simultaneously with the vision. When there is this vision, direct realisation that I
am one with all, that there is absolutely no distinction between me and you, why
should I feel superior to you? It is not the other way round - I feel superior to you
and I should not; so, I'm sorry, I am very humble, very simple - that is hypocrisy.
It is a show of inferiority complex which is backed by an enormous superiority
complex. Is that right? It's a compensatory inferiority complex. But here, there is
no such thing. Gurudev felt inferior to none, nor did He feel superior to anyone.
That also arose from this .supreme vision.
samtustah satatam yogi yatatma drdhaniscayah mayy arpitamanobuddhir yo madbhaktah sa me
priyah (XII:14)
How does it happen? "He has completely and totally offered his heart, soul, and
his whole mind, to me, and he is my devotee.", said Krishna, God. He is God's
devotee, and he is the beloved of God. He is not only that devotee, but he is the
beloved of God.
What are the natural characteristics, what are the distinguishing marks of such
a person, a person who loves God with all his being and who is loved by God?
yasman no 'dvijate loko lokan no 'dvijate ca yah (XII:15)
It is not easy to translate this. One may say: "One who does not run away from
others, and from whom people do not run away. One who does not dislike
anyone, and one who is not disliked by anyone. One who does not hate, and one
who is not hated. One who does not hurt, and one who is not hurt. One who is not
afraid of others, and of whom no-one is afraid."
One of the affirmations that the person who renounces the world in form, like
Swamiji, while entering the holy order of sannyasa is: "Let no-one be afraid of
Me, because from the Self all have proceeded." What is that vision which enables
one to live, in such a way that he is unafraid of anyone, and no-one is afraid of
him; that he is not hurt, and he does not hurt? He does not hurt is probably fairly
easy, even though there may be all sorts of complications to it. It may be fairly
easy for you not to hurt others, but how can you ensure that you are never hurt?
It may be easy for you not to fear anyone, but to ensure that no-one else is afraid
of you, how is that possible? It is perhaps easy not to dislike anyone, but to live in
such a way that no-one has cause to dislike you, how is that possible? Again, not
by cosmetic treatment. Not by telling yourself that you'll play the politician, and
have your own bag of tricks, or bag of lies, so that, when someone comes you take
one out, and when somebody else comes you take the appropriate one out.
Sooner or later, you will be found out, and all the time you are frustrated, you are
in tremendous tension. Cosmetic treatment is of no avail here.
mayy avesya mano ye mam nytayyukta upasate (XII:2)
Only if I can surrender my whole being, if I can enter my whole being into the
divine, then naturally I become part of the totality, and I realise that I am part of
the totality, that I am absolutely one with the entire universe. In that oneness,
there is no fear. Only when there is a consciousness, a feeling of duality - you and
I - am I afraid of you, or you are afraid of me; and only when that duality is
eradicated in one's consciousness, does that fear disappear totally in both of us.
You may not want to hurt; but, if you are hurt, you are hurting. I insult you, I
say something which offends you. You may stretch yourself up and look at the
space between the eye-brows and say "Om, shanti, shanti, shanti. Even though
you are insulting me, I am not offended. Even though you are hurting me, I am
not hurt." That awareness itself, that thought itself is hurt. It shows you you're
hurt. You are trying to mask it by wearing a mask of an angel, but behind the
mask is somebody else. The truth is something else. When will you not be hurt at
all, and when will you not hurt at all? Only when this dualism goes. So, Krishna
suggests: first approach the whole problem from that end. Realise the truth that
God alone is, realise the truth that we are all part of Him. Then all these qualities
flow. That is what Jesus Christ said, though in a slightly different context: "Seek
ye first the kingdom of God" - first find God, then all these shall be added unto
you. Such a person is not highly elated, nor depressed. There is no fear as we
discussed just now, and there is no tremendous excitement. He is free from all
this.
anapeksah sucis daksa udasino gatavyathah sarvarambhaparityagi yo madbhaktah sa me
priyah (XII:16)
'Anapeksah' is desireless. It's quite simple, isn't it? If one truly understands and
realises that "I am in him, he must know how to look after himself," only then can
a person truly become desireless. Otherwise, once again we go on with our
cosmetic treatment. I am still something apart from the totality, I am still an
independent entity, praying to God, trying to find God who is elsewhere. In that
there is fear, in that there is insecurity, in that you pray, "God, please, maybe you
have forgotten that I am here, can you also look after me?" Then someone else
says that it is good to pray, to offer unselfish prayer. Selfish prayer is not so good
- all these rules and regulations, like the talmudic philosophers. Once you miss
the truth, then you are caught up in a maze of conflicting opinions. Must I do
this; must I not do this? In some circumstances, this is right; in other
circumstances, this is not right, and so on. But, when the heart and the mind are
entered into him, he looks after himself.
"Sucir" - pure. Such a heart is pure, such a person is pure, because God is pure.
'I' can never be pure. The letter 'i' is the most vital part of the word 'evil'. If you
take that 'i' out, you cannot pronounce the word, it becomes a dead word. As long
as the 'I' lasts, it will create some evil, it must create it; and as long as the 'I' lasts,
there is bound to be some impurity.
You can juggle with the 'I' - make it a little taller, make it a little shorter, make it
a little thinner, make it a little fatter - you can do all that, but it will really go, and
the heart will become really and truly pure only when it is totally offered to Him.
Intense means the opposite of tense. What is tense? Not this tension, but past
tense, present tense, future tense. Intense means that state in which there is no
past tense, there is no present tense, and there is no future tense. Neither in space
nor in time is there a division between the devotee and God. The devotee has
totally offered himself to the divine, entered himself into the divine, and has
become completely, totally absorbed in the divine. That is the most essential and
vital requisite.
anapeksah sucir daksa (XII:16)
Such a devotee is totally free of sorrow. Sorrow has taken leave of him. He is not
a long-faced miserable man who is bearing the burdens of all the sorrows of
others. If you are miserable, you cannot radiate joy to others. You had to see
Swami Sivananda. Even when the body was in pain, the face radiated such joy,
Once Gurudev had typhoid, and I don't know if you realise that for a person who
is past sixty, past sixty-five perhaps, to have typhoid is not such a joke. He had a
very heavy physical frame, and was bedridden. If doctors went to see Him, He
enquired about the doctors' welfare, and if the doctor said "How are you Swami?"
- "Oh, wonderful." Joking, laughing. The doctor had to pinch himself to remind
himself that He was a patient! One day, He wanted to come out of his bedroom.
He said, "How long am I going to be here? I want to have a look at the Himalayas,
I want to have a look at the Ganges." So, hanging on to two of us, He came out.
We lowered Him into a very low easy chair which He liked very much and which
He used to use a lot. For about half an hour, He sat there, talking to people, and
once he was there, bliss was radiating from Him. There was no thought that He
was a typhoid patient. Then came the time when He said, "Alright, let's get up
and go." He propped Himself up, and suddenly collapsed into the chair. He
started laughing, "The legs, they have lost their strength. Come on, pull me up
please." Even then there was laughter, there was joy, there was delight. You and I
might even panic.
So, 'gatavyathah' - from him all sorrow has departed. God is bliss, and one who
has entered his entire being into that God, has no choice but to be blissful. Pain
may come to the body and go away - we will discuss that in a few minutes.
yo na hrsyate na dvesti na socati na kanksati sukhasubhaparityagi bhaktiman yah sa me
priyah (XII:17)
Yo na hrsyate na dvesti - one who is not unduly elated. Harsa - could also mean
laughing, joking, indulging in pleasantries; but, again, there is a slight distinction.
There is joy which comes from sense contact. I see a friend of mine, I touch a
friend of mine, I hear a friend of mine, and I am happy. This happiness is
something which is derived from the awareness of another. Krishna has already
told us that this is a dangerous thing. If you feel that your happiness depends
upon others, you are asking for unhappiness. The moment they go, what is going
to happen? You will be unhappy, miserable.
There is another happiness which comes from within. Within you, because you
are in God. You are a little cloth bag, filled with fresh water, and that little bag is
lowered into the ocean. Now there is ocean water inside, ocean water outside.
This is another affirmation, which the sannyasi takes on the day that he enters
the Holy Order: "I don't belong to anyone and no-one belongs to me." This means
something quite different from what it sounds superficially. I don't belong to
anyone, no-one belongs to me, because all of us together belong to Him, are in
Him, one in Him. Since we are one in Him, we all belong to Him, so that there is
no dependence one upon the other on this plane of diversity. This dependence is
illusory.
So, 'na socatii na kanksati' - 'he doesn't grieve and he doesn't desire anything',
knowing that all desires and needs are already fulfilled. What I need today has
already been provided. It's a very obvious truth, but unfortunately we miss it.
Whatever you had for your dinner this evening was produced years ago,
especially in these days of storing - wholesalers and retailers and supermarkets.
The grain that went into your stomach today was really produced by nature, a
couple of years ago, just for you. If it had not been just for you, you could not
have been able to eat it. Knowing your need, nature or God had already made it
available. Such is the divine glory.
subhasubhaparityagi bhahtiman yah sa me priyah (XII:17)
'To him there is neither good nor not good';
neither auspicious nor inauspicious. It's an extremely tricky state, which one
cannot intellectualise. The intellect divides; the intellect creates an individuality,
an independent entity called the 'I', and then gets caught. It then divides the
whole world into 'this is good, this is not good', 'this is pleasant, this is
unpleasant', 'this is happiness, this is misery', and all that. When the intellect
comes to an end, or when the intellect has been entered into the divine, into God,
then there is no such thing.
Symbolically, this is done in indian temples, and especially when a deity is taken
in procession. You go round the temple every day, and prostrate from in front of
the temple, and prostrate from behind the temple. When the deity is taken in
procession, you bow down from the front, you go round and bow down from
behind. God doesn't have only one side, the side which I call good, or beautiful, or
auspicious. Everything is God, everything is pervaded by God. If there is evil, if
something appears to be evil, that is His business, not mine.
Where does action take place? What is the source of action? The source of action
is not the ego, not the mind, not the emotion, but the source of action is always
beyond all these. Even when you think you are selfish, you are unselfish, because
you cannot do anything which is contrary to the divine will. Is that right? You
have got your quotation in the Bible: 'But for His will even a sparrow will not fall.'
Even a sparrow will not fall without His will.
So, action springs from God all the time. But, as the action flows from the divine
source, the ego springs up and owns it. "I am doing this". If you are such an
author of an action, can you right at this moment generate an action with your
own mind? You are peaceful, quite calm, happy now. Can you suddenly feel
angry, now? You cannot do it. This merely goes to show that, even when actions
flow from you, they flow from somewhere else. Action always springs from life,
and life belongs to God. As simple as that. So, one who has entered his whole
being into the divine, does not initiate action. The action is initiated by God
Himself, either from within, or through the instrumentality of others. I believe
Ramana Maharishi used to explain it, saying that the sage does not initiate an
Such a one was Gurudev. Take one simple example: there were people who
didn't like his use of the english language. Living in the Himalayas, North India,
why does this swami speak english, write in english, publish books in english?
Once in 1953, another swami had come to attend the Parliament of Religions
convened by Gurudev. He had come prepared to blow the whole thing up, and he
was also on the platform, fidgeting. He had asked the organiser for some time to
speak, and the organiser probably sensed that there was some trouble; so, he told
him the programme was full up. They were arguing in one corner of the platform.
Gurudev noticed it, and asked them, "What is this?" "He wants to speak, Swamiji,
but the programme is full." "It doesn't matter, come, talk. I'll reduce my share."
So, this great swami got up, and for the next ten minutes or so there was fire,
venom. He spoke in very high-flown hindi, but still Gurudev understood it. He
didn't speak of parliament, he didn't speak of any religion. He said, "There is too
much of english here, this is India, hindi is our national language. We are all
sannyasis, sannyasis should not speak english." And Gurudev was looking at him,
smiling, "If you want to say so, say so." After ten minutes, he made him sit down.
There was absolutely no change in Gurudev's face, in that radiance, in that smile,
in that happiness.
tatha manapamanayoh (XII:19)
'Even so, honour and dishonour' - they are both the same. People express their
opinions concerning the devotee. What has he got to do with it? Someone says he
is a good man and someone else says he is a bad man. This is one sort of opinion,
and that is another sort of opinion. What has he got to do with it? Why shouldn't
God himself express that opinion through one person, and why shouldn't the
same God express another opinion through somebody else? He might even
Does it mean that the yogi or the jnani or the devotee walks about naked in ice
or through fire, not caring? I don't know if this is possible, but maybe such an
interpretation exists. Having lived with Gurudev, there seems to be a different
meaning to this. The meaning seems to be that the body, when it feels cold,
clothes itself, and the body, when it feels hot, throws off the woollen jerseys, and
probably picks up a fan and fans itself; but the inner attitude is the same. I am
sure this is not very easy to appreciate, because to us, the body and the
consciousness within are so completely and thoroughly confused, that we don't
really understand this. One has to see that. When the weather got cold, you
looked at Swami Sivananda's face, it was still the same. We talk only of the
freezing cold, he never bothered about all that. That freezing became God for the
time being. If the weather changed from heat to cold, he just picked up the
overcoat, put it on, and carried on with the same job as if nothing happened.
When suddenly the weather turned warm, he took off the coat and carried on the
same work as if nothing happened. This is the beauty. The inner feeling, the
bhavana at heart, was the same, unaffected, but outwardly the body goes on
adjusting to all this, let it. Can you do all this without fretting and fuming and
making that an issue, a reality?
Whatever happens, whatever is given, whatever is provided, it's all from God;
and he who knows this, he is completely and totally contented.
aniketah sthiramatir (XII:19)
There is a little bit of word play here. 'Aniketah' is one who has no home, a
So, there it starts, and here it ends. He who has entered his whole being into Me,
sitting close to me as it were. Which means that the person sitting next to you is
God. Treat your neighbour not as yourself, but treat your neighbour as God. You
look at him, God, and he looks at me, and sees it's God. Can we live in this
consciousness that I am constantly sitting near God? That in front, behind, to the
right, to the left, above, below, I am completely surrounded by God, his being
totally pervades the entire universe? One who is able to enter into the spirit of
this teaching, one who is able to live this teaching, who has supreme faith in God,
and who is totally devoted to God, 'he indeed is extremely dear to me'.
These qualities and qualifications manifest in that person who is able really and